Nicolau dos Reis Lobato

Nicolau dos Reis Lobato (24 May 1946-31 December 1978) was President of East Timor from 7 December 1975 to 31 December 1978, succeeding Francisco Xavier do Amaral and preceding Xanana Gusmao (who took office in 2002).

Biography
Nicolau dos Reis Lobato was born on 24 May 1946 in Soibada, Portuguese Timor, and he was the nominal President of East Timor from 7 December 1975 to 31 December 1978 at the head of the FRETILIN party. He fled to the East Timorese hinterland to fight against the Indonesian occupation of East Timor, and on 31 December 1978 he was killed in an Indonesian Army ambush led by Suharto's son-in-law Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo. It would be 24 years before an East Timorese president was elected.